heater seems underpowered

[davida]

The heater on our "new" 79 sovereign seems underpowered. When it was 40F outside, it could never get above 65F, even on full heat. The air that was coming out wasn't more than lukewarm.

Any advice?

[TomW]

Your burner log might need cleaning. What might be happening is that some of the gas holes are plugged and the fire can not spread across the entire log. A quick way to verify is to turn the furnace on & smell the exhaust. If you smell unburnt gas then action is required.

There is a picture of a burner log at my web site if you're interested.

Tom

[davida]

Thanks for the post.

I feel a bit puzzled, though. I don't _think_ that what I'm turning on is a 'furnace' -- I'm flipping the switch on top of the thermostat to "heat", and cranking the thermostat up. I never really stopped to think about what the heat source was in the unit on the roof, but I'm sure hoping it's not trying to burn LPG, since I've never lit a pilot up there...

What am I missing?

[clancy_boy]

You sound like you are using the "HEAT STRIP" on the AC unit. The heater should be lower to the floor and you will use gas (propane) with that. The heat strip is electric.

[ticki2]

Originally Posted by davida

Thanks for the post.

I feel a bit puzzled, though. I don't _think_ that what I'm turning on is a 'furnace' -- I'm flipping the switch on top of the thermostat to "heat", and cranking the thermostat up. I never really stopped to think about what the heat source was in the unit on the roof, but I'm sure hoping it's not trying to burn LPG, since I've never lit a pilot up there...

What am I missing?

What you are turning on is the heat strip built into the A/C unit . It will not heat the trailer like the furnace , it's ment for cool summer nights . The element clicks off on thermal after awhile and then will come back on . There should be a seperate thermostat for the furnace . Depending on the model it may not have a pilot , could be electronic ignition.

[davida]

Nice to know. I'm surprised I didn't run across the heater yet, but I'll look. Where does it tend to hide? (this is a 31ft Sovereign)

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by davida

Nice to know. I'm surprised I didn't run across the heater yet, but I'll look. Where does it tend to hide? (this is a 31ft Sovereign)

davida,
On both my 75 and 80 31' units the furnace is under the stove in the kitchen area. Just to the left of the door as you come in. Also on both my units the AC thermostat was in the front lounge area and the furnace is on a separate thermostat in the bedroom area, both of my units are rear bath BTW.

Aaron

[davida]

Well, that's embarrassing. But good to know. Any thing I need to worry about with a heater that has likely not been turned on in a few years?

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by davida

Well, that's embarrassing. But good to know. Any thing I need to worry about with a heater that has likely not been turned on in a few years?

Yep it will probably need a complete cleaning to get all the critters and their habitats out of it. Also run a board search for Furnace Recalls. I think yours falls outside of the recall parameters, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Aaron